Masks
by freyja0taku
Summary: It's what we place on our faces, and on other people's faces.


**Summary:** It's what we place on our faces, and on other people's faces. AU

* * *

 _masks_

When she first meets someone, she'd often wonder after the small talk and the light smiles if she managed to leave a good impression. If they deemed her likable enough to seek her company again. If the smiles they showed when they conversed was actually genuine.

She'd wonder if they actually saw the real her.

=•=•=•=•=•=

Two girls were talking exuberantly. Well, one of them was. Among the two, one has a rich brown hair, meticulously curled at the corners similar to how her lips looked. She chatted on and on, and frankly, her poor companion couldn't keep up anymore and simply settled in occasionally nodding and smiling at her.

But then one sentence caught the other's ears, snapping her attention back to reality.

"How'd you get to keep your hair in that color? It's _so_ red."

The girl's brow shot up. A hand quickly reached for her tresses to check, she didn't doubt it but she had to. Her friend complimented her so surely. The tone held no hint of deceit, nothing but a coat of admiration and a sprinkle of envy. But the last time she saw her face in the mirror, she had a flaxen hair. She was blonde.

And she still is.

Her friend continued the barrage of praises, not noticing how Naminé felt about the words. "And your eyes. Ugh, I wish I had deep blue eyes instead of this sick, ordinary color."

Naminé swallowed. And she wondered, is there another person Yuffie is seeing in her?

=•=•=•=•=•=

It was the start of doubt. The uncertainty. It danced in her head, the question that no matter how hard she tried, lingered at the back of her mind. It was like a fire that can never be put out until she got an answer.

And she longed to find the answer.

=•=•=•=•=•=

Naminé knew she'd be laughed at if she asked her new friend, so she decided to start with her long and trusted one...

"Umm, Olette," said she, her voice far too small to be heard by other people. If she didn't tap her friend's shoulder, Olette probably wouldn't have noticed her either.

"Mind if I ask you something?" When she finally gathered enough courage to raise her head, her eyes widened at the sight—her old friend had some company. Not one or two, but three. She was too focused on her goal that she didn't notice that she might be bothering her—them.

"I'm sorry, I didn't- I'll come back later."

"No, no," the brunette said, grasping Naminé at the wrist, stopping her in her tracks. "It's alright." Without leaving with her apparently, because she stood.

"Do _not_ eat my share okay?" She pointedly said to her group, more specifically to the one who made the gesture of reaching her pizza.

They both left the table at a fair distance until the sound of laughter and other noises from the cafeteria became bearable and no one can hear or interrupt them.

"So," Olette started, "Is there a problem?" The supposed to be blonde turned to her with a sort of sad smile. "Look, I'm not trying to be rude but you didn't talk to me for weeks and now this?"

Naminé's eyes flashed the pain she felt inside, or that's what she thinks her face was expressing.

"Neither did you." She almost spit out, her words too bitter to keep it to herself but after a moment, she reigned the hurt and continued speaking in her usual way. "Okay, I'm sorry. But you seem to be... Not interested in talking to me too. I'm not expecting you to either, seeing that you got new friends and all-"

"What're you saying! You're my friend too!" Olette exclaimed, noticeably fuming as she shook the blonde's shoulders. "We might not be able to see each other as much as we did, but we still are. You see them," she said, nodding her head to the three boys who were at the table with her. "I was friends with them before you went away. We just got closer since _you_ stopped visiting."

Naminé could only lower her head in response. Ashamed. Part of her, deep inside, knew that she was the one at fault.

"And don't put all the blame on me, you got new friends too."

That's when she shot her face up, conflict in her eyes. "I guess I did but..."

Olette tilted her head. "But what...?"

Naminé closed her eyes before shaking her head. "Nevermind."

The brunette sighed. Obviously not believing her, but knew that Naminé wouldn't relent once she decided on something. Olette smiled, her guarded features softening. "I'm sure you didn't come asking for a confrontation by the look of things."

Naminé nodded, the soles of her feet shifting from one ball to the other. "I... This is gonna be weird."

Olette chuckled. "Of course. I've learned to expect that from you now. So?"

"Um... Okay." Naminé breathed in then finally asked, "What is the color of my hair?"

Olette abandoned the smile, went from coughing until she couldn't keep it in and laughed. It took a while that the people around, even her group glanced their way, probably wondering, _what in the world?_

Naminé stood frozen in shock, shoulders sinking in humiliation. But before she could attempt to retract her words, Olette spoke.

"You," she heaved in between laughs, "You came all the way here to ask that silly question? You could've just called."

Naminé's pale complexion colored in embarrassment. Admittedly, it escaped her mind. But still, she believes that she made the right decision. She saw personally how Olette took the question, and she vowed not to ask another soul again.

Olette was still stifling giggles when she answered, "Blonde, you're blonde. It looks almost white in the sun, and out of habit, you hang it on your right. Can't have the tips of your hair get painted in assorted colors, am I right?"

Naminé eyes widened, blinking a few times before relief flooded her nerves, thankful that despite the embarrassment she felt, Olette gave her an answer. An honest answer.

"What brought this on? Wait, are you considering dyeing your hair?! I'd say no! Natural suits you. But if you'd really want to, then highlights can be good but not-"

"-No," she interrupted. Finding it right to take this moment to laugh, softly unlike her friend's. "I don't want to dye my hair. You know I'd rather put the color on paper." Olette smiled as if relieved. "One more question though. Yours is... brown right?" Naminé added the last part with uncertainty.

"Seriously, what's with this kind of question?" Olette shook her head, a noise of amusement escaping her mouth as she took the blonde's arm and started leading her back to the table.

"Wait, your friends-"

"Shush, you're my friend too. They won't mind." At the smile still present on her face, Naminé let herself believe that they really won't. "And yes, it's brown. Dark brown. Mocha locks like you used to call it."

Naminé smiled, in relief, at her friend's words. Olette still remembered the silly things she said to her in the past, and that touched her more than she'd be willing to admit out loud. But then it made her question again what Yuffie saw that she and Olette didn't.

Who was right? Who was wrong?

=•=•=•=•=•=

It made her think. Maybe what others see in her greatly differs from what she could actually see.

But it didn't matter much now that she knew her longtime friend saw what she saw in herself.

=•=•=•=•=•=

"Hey, what happened back there?" Olette's friend asked, the tanned blond wearing a sleeveless top. "One moment you looked like you're about to lose your shit then the next you're like a maniac laughing out loud."

"Hayner," the one with a kind smile chided, "Language."

"Guys, this is Naminé," Olette said, pushing the girl to the table before she took the chance to sprint away. "The one I've talked about."

Naminé showed a smile but was far from happy inside. Fearing the stuffs that was shared about her.

"Ooh, the one who's into painting." The one wearing black and white shirt said, snapping his fingers in an 'aha' moment. "Nice to meet you, I'm Roxas."

"Hi," she said rather shyly. She was reminded that she had never really been used to boys as she awkwardly shook his offered hand.

"Don't act like you don't know her," Olette said, sitting on her previous seat which was beside the kind man with a green bandana, leaving Naminé to sit on the only available one, between the other two.

"They all saw one of your art and never stopped bothering me to pull you here."

"I didn't say that!"

"Well, I did but it's Roxas who never really shut up about it."

"Oh, right."

"Hey!" The boy protested but didn't deny the claim. "I just really liked the clock tower one!" At the indirect praise, Naminé couldn't stop the dusts of red appear on her cheeks.

"Thank you," she whispered, her fingers playing with her hands. Then her eyes met the one she still hasn't heard the name of.

"Oh, I'm Pence," the kind one said, reading the meaning behind her look. He only offered a smile as he nudged the guy beside him good-naturedly. "And this is Hayner. Don't mind him. He's just sulky because you beat his record in making Olette laugh."

Hayner immediately started making wild gestures. "That's not true! I don't record it!"

"But it _is_ true," Roxas piped in, a smirk on his face as he reached to hi-five Pence.

"See? Even Roxas agrees!'

"You're just tryin' to tease me for stealing your pizza!" The rest laughed, except Hayner who stared hard at Olette after seeing her join in. He let out a huff. "What made you laugh that hard anyway?"

Olette briefly glanced at her, and Naminé's heart did what she wanted to do at the moment—ran. "She just asked something out of the blue. No biggie."

Naminé exhaled, relieved. She didn't want to be labeled as a weirdo in Olette group of friends. But the next words uttered made her realize that she relaxed too early.

"What color is her hair?" And that made her and the group's jaw drop.

"Wha?"

"Is that the question?"

"She's clearly blonde." All heads turned to him at once. Not even Naminé expected him to take the question seriously.

"What?" He asked defensively.

"Wow Hayner, I thought you're gonna be mad at her for the rest of the day."

"Shut up," the guy said, almost defensive. "She's a friend of Olette, she gotta be nice too."

It may be nothing to him, those words, but it made Naminé happy. No one had said those to her that sincerely for a while. She didn't even notice that her lips curled in a smile, a genuine one, as she faced them head-on. "Thank you."

=•=•=•=•=•=

And sometimes, maybe a stranger can get to know the real her more than her friends will ever can.

Because with strangers, she forgets to put an act. Caught off guard, she ends up reverting back to the actions of the real her. Not thinking about consequences because at the back of her mind she thinks,

 _I'll never see them again anyway._

=•=•=•=•=•=

A smile was on her face because that was what's expected of her. What Yuffie expects in her as she blabbers once again about things that Naminé wasn't interested in. Her head was up in the clouds, swimming in her own fantasy. She bobbed her head occasionally in fake understanding. And soon, everything ended with the usual hug of goodbye.

Naminé had always found it awkward but Yuffie didn't share her sentiment because she never failed to do it every time they said goodbye. She still had the smile on her face as she waved and got swallowed by the sea of people crossing the intersection.

Naminé sighed and continued to walk ahead, the curve on her lips straightening as she did so.

"Naminé?" A familiar voice asked rather hesitantly.

She turned, not about to be rude to find... "Olette?"

At the sight of her, her friend let out a breath. "Thought I mistaken you for someone else."

Her face scrunched up, how is that even possible?

"Remember the thing you ask yesterday? I think I get you now," Olette said, fastening her pace so they could walk side by side. "I know it's weird but just answer me, okay? What color do you see your hair as?"

"What?" Was what she'd rather ask but she answered, "Pale blonde."

"Right. I thought so too."

"Wait, why did you ask?"

Olette's friendly smile turned sheepish. "Well, you know we live in the same neighborhood so I was behind you. But I wasn't sure because, oh gosh this will sound ridiculous but I swear I saw your hair red earlier. Then it turned back to blonde again and it's you."

Naminé can only gape at Olette. "Whe-when did you see that?"

"Uh, when you're talking with your friend? The black-haired one?"

She paled even further. "Black?"

"Yeah. Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Are you sure it's not brown? Styled in curls?"

"What?" Olette drew back, confusion visibly conveyed. "You're kidding, you know it's straight."

It took a while before the shock faded to a certain level where she could walk back to her home. She forgot if Olette talked to her after that, she made a note to tell sorry if she did tomorrow.

When she passed the mirror in her room, she was horrified to see that her hair was auburn. But after a blink, it was back to normal.

She should've been relieved but she felt horrible.

She didn't know.

She didn't saw the real Yuffie. She never tried to see beyond the mask that she wore. Beyond the mask that she placed on her friend.

What a friend she was.

Instead of digging inside, she only created a mask that hid the real Yuffie.

Maybe it was time she remove the one on her own too.

=•=•=•=•=•=

Sometimes the other people can only see what they want to see, but more often than not, it's her own fault. She who pushes them away before they got close to seeing the real her.

And in the end, they can only see what she wanted them to see—the mask she puts on her face.

* * *

 **notes:** Wigs is weird for a title so let's go with masks. Lol. I think this is the third time I used the Kairi-in-Naminé-thingy. Should've been reversed but I like it like this. I hope it wasn't too boring. Maybe it should've been Larxene instead of Yuffie. And then Naminé will have to act like a bitch to stay friends. Now that's interesting hahah. But it'll be longer and many things will be changed so it remained as it is. I doubt anyone will read this anyway.

I dunno if I expressed it well but it's not a mistake for Naminé to see Yuffie with Selphie's face. I just want to say that Naminé only saw what she wanted to see in Yuffie.

I guess Yuffie wanted to show that she was happy despite feeling the opposite. (She did that in ff7 right? Kinda.) Naminé in her passiveness. She accepts the role given to her. (In chain of memories. Check.)

To be fair, kh has some of this moments too. Seeing you but not the actual you. Like in Xion, Sora and Roxas.

Thanks to those who read this mess!

09/03/17


End file.
